Life throws many curve balls at us, and each curve ball has the chance to leave us feeling stressed.

Changes in life, material or otherwise, short-term or long-term, leave a lasting mark on our personalities and actions.

However, in life, with the rapid pace of modern life, it’s often quite easy to get lost in the concept of whether or not you are stressed out, or if the issue might be more severe.

So, are you stressed? Or are you anxious?

Are you stressed?

Stress is a significant issue, and will often lead you with feelings such as:

Fatigue and a lack of desire to take part

Physical headaches and stomach issues including nausea

Tension in your muscles – even including rapid heartbeats and chest pains

Problems sleeping and getting a good rest

A loss of motivation and an inability to fight back against problems in life

Stress can be caused by so many things. From failing to meet a deadline to falling out with a close personal friend, stress can come from all manner of backgrounds. Even simply waking up late in the morning can cause stress.

The common problem with stress is that it will often leave you quick to anger and easy to aggravate, and will usually lead to other problems such as strained relationships and poor self-care.

You should look to seek help for stress when it becomes more than a mere episode. If you continually wake up feeling stressed and find it hard to enjoy your days, then it might be time to reach out.

Failing to get a handle on your stress will put your body under significant pressure that it could do without.

Cortisol is one of those stress hormones. Staying in a good hydrated status can keep your stress levels down. When you don’t give your body the fluids it needs, you’re putting stress on it, and it’s going to respond to that.

Are you suffering from anxiety?

Anxiety is more of a condition of the mind, though you will feel the impact physically as the mental effects take their toll on you.

Poor concentration skills and a quickness to irritate and lose your temper

Perpetually feeling on edge and finding it hard to relax even in safe locations

This will likely cause you to draw away from being with people, and will mean that you regularly stop taking part in activities you normally would. This make you begin to worry even more, making you constantly worry about your own well-being. When this happens, you should look to speak with a medical professional.

Stress is often a short-term issue, and can be overcome by simply opening up and talking directly with the cause of said stress.

Anxiety, though, is often more abstract. While talking and opening up is still the best cure for those who feel anxious, it’s important that you look at the cause of your anxiety before making any moves.

Dealing with both stress and anxiety

While the feeling and causes of stress and anxiety often can be related, it’s often hard to know which you suffer from.

Typically, stress will have a clear and obvious cause, and a solution related to overcoming the cause.

Most of the time, though, it’s easiest to break free from stress and/or anxiety by simply opening up. Whether or not you are fully aware of where your issues stem from, both problems can be overcome with the same tactics.

We recommend that you try and deal with stress and anxiety in a similar fashion: first, you need to appreciate the difference. As mentioned above, stress is a physical issue whereas anxiety is a mental issue.

However, finding a solution to either issue is possible. Coping with stress or anxiety often means taking care of three issues:

Speaking with someone and actually getting the problems out there in the wide open to be looked at closely.

Opening up about the problems causing you stress or anxiety, and no longer lying to yourself that there is a problem.

Doing what you can to target the cause of your stress/anxiety, and confront the cause head on to solve the problem.

Dealing with any experience in life that leaves you feeling stressed or anxious can be tough. The best remedy to both problems, though, is simply to talk to someone.

Being able to open up and pay closer attention to your mind and/or bod is very important.

The strongest treatment to either stress or anxiety is the same: open up, identify the source of the problem, and work towards finding a solution.

George Minton is the community manager at Trusted Alkaline. He has a background in web design and marketing and works day to day on improving user experience and website functionality. When not working, George enjoys rugby and swimming.